Mikha'el
by Alatar Maia
Summary: What happened to Michael, between Stull Cemetery and where Gabriel found nem? Set in the Vessel 'Verse.
1. The Cage

**I thought I really should wrap up this end of things. Well, less that end...more, what the hell happened in the first place?  
**

* * *

Michael yanks nir vessel back together, re-binding particles and atoms against the burn of holy fire and nir own fury. Ne rushed back down, wings flared, Stull Cemetery barely changed-

 _The Pit open._

Is this some new rebellion? Lucifer stands at the edge, Michael is frozen for a moment, _what is he doing-_

Not Lucifer.

"Sam!" Why can't they _understand_? "It's not going to end this way! Step back!" They _can't_ change this, no matter how hard they try!

"You're going to have to make me!" Michael can see Lucifer's Grace writhing, but it's Sam shouting at nem, nir brother must be furious-

 _No._

"I have to fight my brother!" Ne _has_ to, if ne doesn't do it now Michael's going to lose nir nerve and this _has_ to be carried out, if there's the slightest chance of Them returning-

Sam faces the Pit. Spreads his arms.

" _No!"_

Michael lunges, before ne can even think about it. It is not to save Sam Winchester. Human hands wrap in his vessel's clothing, pull the wrong way, and Michael's wings cannot pull nem backwards.

 _This can't be happening._

 _This isn't what was supposed to be happening._

 _This can't-_

Lucifer screams, furious, and Sam Winchester pays the price.

Michael withdraws, as far from nir brother as he can.

This can't be, this _isn't possible._ That _Michael_ has ended up here, of all places, was not the Plan. Everything else went perfectly. Fate slotted together around the Winchesters, destiny sliding into place exactly as intended, Michael had seen the exact result ne'd expected. There was no other option. No alternate path.

So how...?

Someone had to have made a mistake.

Obviously, it was not the Winchesters.

Michael wastes a century denying that ne could be at fault. A second century was spent dealing with the realization that ne was the only one who _could_ be at fault for things going so, so wrong. The third is spent ignoring the taunts Lucifer throws at nem over Sam Winchester's soul, as if he thinks drawing Michael's attention to the mangled thing will drive nem into anger.

Michael does not care. Ne is angry at Lucifer, yes, but ne has never _wanted_ to fight him.

Time passes.

Eventually, Sam Winchester is no longer enough to keep Lucifer's attention.

Michael avoids Lucifer, but the Cage is only so big and it turns into a game of cat-and-mouse that Lucifer seems to delight in. Michael's refusal to fight back discourages him, though, and eventually he retreats back to Sam. Michael settles into a different corner of the Cage.

Ne contemplates praying. Not that it will do any good. Praying has not helped nem in a long time. But maybe, now...

Michael discards the idea. Pointless. Ne tries to figure out what mistake ne made, instead.

Lucifer is not occupied for long. Michael is looking (pointlessly) for some opening, some imperfection in the Cage, it was only ever meant to hold one archangel after all - and Lucifer gets a hold of nem by the primaries.

Michael is startled enough that Lucifer manages to drag nem down, feathers coming loose with the force of it. Michael screeches, in pain or anger ne can't tell.

Lucifer does not stop there. Michael tries to push him away, wings tucked defensively behind nir back, but Lucifer knows the Cage well and that, along with Michael's unwillingness to actually _hurt_ him, becomes his advantage.

 _Useless,_ Lucifer spits. _Pointless, hopeless, just look at you, stuck down here with me, you're not even trying._

Michael isn't.

Ne doesn't know how much time passes until Lucifer bores of tormenting nem, until he goes back to Sam Winchester. Michael retreats into the farthest corner of the Cage, aching and wondering _why._

Nir wings ache, and the cold of the Cage reaches in and refuses to be shaken off. Michael may be fire, but ne are a slow-burning ember at the moment, barely any spark left. Nir true form was light and heat, but Lucifer had had millions of years to chill the Cage with his rage and Michael could not change its nature.

Michael kept nir eyes on Lucifer, as he played with Sam Winchester. Ne wanted a warning, next time nir brother lost interest in what he seemed to regard as his toy.

Lucifer noticed, of course.

Michael did not bother keeping track of time, but after a long while Lucifer switched tactics, plying Sam gently and abandoning his torturous methods. Michael only watched as Sam slowly lowered his guard, even more slowly trusting Lucifer when Lucifer says that he is done with the pain.

Ne watches and sees the agony in Sam Winchester's soul when Lucifer rips back into him without so much as a warning.

A new presence arrives.

Sam Winchester's soul is whisked away. Michael throws nemself at the opening and meets the unyielding border of the Cage. Ne has no time to dodge before Lucifer is there, too, spitting insults and finding the sorest places on nir wings _did you really think you were ever getting out of here?_

Michael still does not fight him.

There is no longer the lure of a vulnerable human soul to distract Lucifer. Michael finds quickly that it's hopeless to try and block his reach, to try and stop him from getting at any part of Michael. It only makes him more determined.

Besides.

Michael is not nearly as willing to hurt Lucifer as Lucifer is willing to do to nem, to cut and rip and scorch nem with a frost so deep that Michael wonders, desperate and more than a little afraid, if this was always what Lucifer was meant to do with his cold-burning Grace.

Fleetingly, in a brief slightly-calmer moment, Michael thinks that this is what Sam Winchester must have felt like.

Lucifer withdraws, and at first Michael is too relieved to realize what he is doing. Ne does figure it out when Lucifer gives nem just enough time to recover, to forget the sharp pierce of his Grace, and then sets back in with a renewed interest.

He tries to set Michael's head spinning when he's not doing it manually, whispering threats and shouting and calmly talking, telling Michael he knows everything ne's done, what ne did to get sent down here, _dear old Dad really doesn't care about you at all does he?_

More often than not, it works. The Cage has succeeded in getting Michael fully out of sorts. Ne wouldn't even recognize nemself, if whoever ne'd been before this had seen nem.

Michael tries to think of what ne'd say, if ne ever had the chance to speak to the angel ne'd been before the Fall. Warn that Michael? Would ne have believed any of it?

Michael hasn't even thought of nir Parent in eons. Then Lucifer swoops down on nem again, wings mantled like a threat, and Michael can't think of anything at all.

Another Presence intrudes. This time, a much more familiar one.

Michael has taken to counting time in how many times Lucifer has left nem alone in between playing his games. This happens after the fiftieth, or perhaps the fifty-first.

Lucifer's head snaps up, wings snap out, as angry as ever. Strangely, he says nothing.

Michael does not rise. Ne does not even move forward. Ne shrinks back, in fact. What right does Michael have to stand in Their presence anymore? Ne can barely move without hurting in some way. Every imperfection feels like it's picked out in a spotlight under the attention that is focused on the two of them.

Michael can sense Their sadness as clearly as if it were nir own, weighing down on nem like the force of a black hole.

 _Truly, Lucifer?_

Michael does not listen to what insults Lucifer undoubtedly spits back. Ne is tired. Can't things just...stop? For a moment?

 _You do not have to remain here._

 _And you've given us another option?_ Lucifer sneers back, but Michael can tell he is curious.

 _Yes,_ They say calmly.

 _Under what conditions?_

 _You may leave,_ They say. _But you will become human._

Lucifer laughs mockingly. Michael feels as though ne is frozen to the spot. In the Cage, it is not so unlikely that ne actually is. Human?

 _This is your idea of a compromise?_ Lucifer spits, and turns his back while telling Them what They can do with that offer.

 _Michael?_ Nir name from Them makes Michael start. Reluctantly, ne drags nemself forwards.

 _What do you say?_

Human. Michael feels a faint curl of disgust. They had just been the catalyst for Lucifer's rebellion, for this whole disaster. Become one of them? Ne couldn't imagine it. This is meant as punishment, perhaps, a demotion of the highest order for Michael's mistakes.

But compared to the Cage? They are dirty, lesser creatures, and yet...

 _I will accept Your offer._

Lucifer is a flare of shock and anger behind nem, and then the Cage fades away.

Ne is nowhere in particular, but with Them, it is not so surprising. It's a welcome relief from the cold. Michael tries to assume a proper stance, but nir wings are nudged into a more comfortable position before ne can bow.

Michael takes it as a message that this is not meant to be a formal audience.

 _You are quiet,_ They say. _Have you no questions for Me?_

There is plenty Michael wishes to know, but if They have not seen fit to share it with nem, it is hardly nir place to ask. _I bow to what You choose to do._

Disappointment. What? What did ne say? Michael locks the questions away in nir mind, nevermind that They must already know what ne has thought. Michael is unused to being in Their presence. Ne cannot forget that ne is Their child, meant to carry out Their will.

 _Oh, Michael,_ They say, like a sigh. _I wish you understood._

There is a part of that Presence reaching out to nem, a surprisingly affectionate gesture. The pain fades to a distant ache, not an immediate hurt. Michael relaxes into the touch involuntarily, before ne can remember to appear properly respectful.

What do They mean?

 _Know this,_ They say softly. _I do this as a gift to you, Michael, not a punishment._

Michael knows They must be able to sense nir surprise. Ne says nothing. The empty gaps where an approximation of flight feathers were on his wings are suddenly embarrassing. What is Michael now? Being human is a gift, to erase a semblance of an angel.

 _Listen to what they teach you,_ They say. _And know that you did the best you could, Michael._

The power around nem digs deeper. Michael braces nemself for the hurt, but it does not hurt like Lucifer did. It is the sensation of wings falling away like they're unraveling, of Grace swirling away from nir access until ne is-

Not Michael.


	2. Michael Corner

**Continuation! I had to look up how grades work in England because I'm used to first grade, second grade, etc. and not Year 1, Year 2, and so on. So research went into this which means you're obligated to appreciate it.  
**

* * *

Michael Corner is born September twenty-ninth in 1998 to Nia Corner, the most recent in a long line of non-magicals and the occasional Squib intermarriage. Nir mother knows this, of course, but it's not talked about - any Squibs in the line kept quiet about it, not wanting to drag the world they'd purposefully left behind into their new life.

Ne is named Michael because it is a normal, respectable name, and Nia is tired of people underestimating her because of her name and what she looks like. She doubts her reasoning occurs to any of her family at the time. People coo over baby Michael and nir blue eyes, talking about what a shame it is that those eyes will turn brown or black when ne gets older, baby blue is such a pretty color.

Jackson, Michael's father, does not seem like he knows what to do with nem. Michael was an unexpected wrinkle of fate, but a nice one - Jackson adjusts quickly and looks at Michael like he's never seen a baby before, astonished. _I helped make this._

They go home when the hospital's done making sure Michael's healthy, and the first thing they do is lie down in their big bed (Nia still feels exhausted and sore). The first thing Michael does is open nir eyes and give both of them a long, curious look.

Michael is not an easy baby. Ne cries a lot, like something's hurting nem, even when Nia just fed nem and she knows it's not teething or cold or some other reason a baby would cry. She settles for taking as many naps as she can during the day, bringing Michael to bed with her for at least one at noon, and doing her best to calm nem down when ne wakes up in the night.

Nir eyes do not turn from baby blue to brown. If anything, the blue lightens, the grayish edge of it vanishing and giving nem a curiously penetrating stare.

Nia's sister exclaims over the probability of blue eyes and says 'he'll be a heartbreaker when he gets older'. Michael can't talk yet but looks confused enough that it makes Nia laugh.

Nia works as a professor at a nearby university, and Michael grows up with plenty of toys and attention, even if not all of it is from Nia. Jackson is an artist and becomes the stay-at-home dad, even though Nia is at home with them for as much maternity leave as her university will give her.

The university only offers 39 weeks paid maternity leave, so Nia only takes a year off and is careful with her savings for those weeks. Jackson tells her not to worry, but she does anyway because it's never hurt them to be careful (which is part of what makes Michael's conception a bit bewildering).

It makes for thirteen weeks without pay, and she's glad that Michael was born in the fall, because it means that for those thirty-nine weeks the can't skive off paying her by claiming that since it's summer she wouldn't be getting paid anyway.

Michael's first birthday is just her and Jackson, since she doesn't see the point in a big party if Michael's not even going to remember it. It's a sedate celebration with a chocolate cake that Michael only gets a little taste of, since ne's only one after all.

It's one of Michael's first memories. It's fuzzy enough to almost not count as a memory, but in school when ne's older they ask what's the first thing any of them remembers and Michael puts nir hand up and tells the Year 1 teacher about chocolate and sunlight coming in through the window.

At the moment, though, Michael's still small enough that at the end of the year Nia considers taking more time off. Jackson tells her not to worry, and then bounces Michael to make nem laugh delightedly.

Michael gets older year by year. It's almost amazing when nir fourth birthday rolls around - four already! - and they celebrate that and the painting that Jackson just sold.

Michael's fifth birthday marks nir first year in school.

Michael's quiet for the first week, and at the end of the second Nia gets called in and told that they don't think Michael's socializing properly for 'a boy his age, he really should be making friends and having fun'. Nia tells them that Michael will socialize when the time comes and listens attentively in the care when ne tells her about how ne discovered the school's amazing marker collection.

They have markers at home, but the school has a set that includes a whole box of just reds and yellows and oranges that Michael loves.

Nia asks Michael why ne doesn't try to make friends when they get home, partly out of curiosity and a small fear that maybe the teacher's right and she's fooling herself.

Michael looks up at her and, in nir infinite five-year-old wisdom, tells her it's because when ne makes friends with people it just ends up making nem sad.

Nia doesn't remember Michael ever having a friend before, except for the times she'd gone to those classes for new mothers and let nem play with the other babies. It unsettles her, and the feeling stays for a few days.

Jackson just shrugs when she asks him. "Kids say weird stuff all the time. I'm sure if you asked any other mom they'd have some story."

Nia lets herself forget about it.

Michael grows up and moves from markers to books and the occasional playground booger jokes. Ne learns fast, facts sticking in nir head, but only if ne thinks they're interesting - and God help the teachers who try to get nem interested in _everything_ they're supposed to teach nem.

Nia sits with Michael and tells nem about how hard teachers work and how not everything works like she's told him about her university working. Michael's grades improve a little, and Nia's satisfied with that - Michael's seven years old, what do they expect out of nem?

Michael's seven and ne tells her ne wants to grow nir hair out instead of keeping it trimmed down to the scalp, and Nia lets nem.

Jackson, whose hair brushes his shoulders constantly, helps Michael hold nir dreadlocks back in a ponytail when they get long enough, and Michael goes to school beaming.

Nia's not stupid, she knows what people think of black people who wear their hair naturally, but she's not going to stop Michael from doing anything because of bullshit social regulations. Thankfully, Michael does not become a victim of being suspended for breaking dress code with nir natural hair, and Nia breathes a sigh of relief.

Michael turns eight. Jackson comes home looking guilty and resigned and tells her they found something during a routine doctor's visit.

Chemotherapy doesn't help, nor does medicine. Michael gets progressively quieter and more reclusive as Jackson gets worse.

Jackson refuses to stop painting, even when Nia knows he feels horrible. A month after Michael turns eight, he sells everything he can.

A month after that, he dies.

Michael doesn't leave nir room. Nia wishes she could do the same.

The university has given her two weeks off. She doesn't know what to do with the free time.

After a few days, she looks at the work she's finished and realized she has nothing to do.

Nia creeps down the hall to Michael's room. A knock on the door gets no answer. She opens the door.

Michael is curled up on nir bed. Ne lets Nia sit next to nem, put an arm over Michael's shoulders.

"Why did it have to be _him_?"

"I don't know, Michael."

Michael cries. Nia does too, even though she tries to hide it. After that, they learn how to help each other and deal with the absence standing between them.

Michael stops drawing. Nia puts Jackson's art supplies in the attic, can barely bring herself to touch the money from what he'd sold. She knows it's more than the paintings were worth, collectively - Jackson was talented, but he must have found sympathetic buyers, people who made themselves feel better without actually doing anything helpful by overpaying for a cancer patient's art.

At nine years old, Michael gets in trouble at school. An older boy had insulted nir hair and Michael had responded by calling him a 'trust fund baby'. The other boy (who was, actually, the son of a CEO, though Nia had no idea where Michael had heard _that_ phrase) had tried to kick nem, and Michael had punched him in the solar plexus.

The boy was perfectly fine except for a faint bruise, and had of course gone without so much as a suspension because 'the bruise was punishment enough, don't you think?'.

Michael was facing suspension for assault. Nia threatened to sue the school for ignoring racially based insults and challenged them to answer whether this was because of the punching or because Michael was black.

The suspension was changed to detentions. Nia made Michael serve them and then found a new school.

Michael, recalcitrant and absolutely unrepentant, just shrugged when she asked nem who taught nem how to punch. The school officials had claimed that it had looked like ne'd been trained.

At the new school, Michael became a hanger-on for a group of kids nir age, one of whom got into a heated argument with another about gender because they refused to go by 'she'. Nia found out about this because Michael spent the entire evening looking pensive and then asked her what 'transgender' meant.

Nia told nem. Michael looked thoughtful for a little while more, and then asked if there was such thing for people who didn't want to be treated like a boy _or_ a girl.

Nia told Michael that ne was allowed to be whatever ne wanted, boy or girl or neither, and then after ne went to bed went online and looked up gender neutrality.

When ne turns ten, Nia has been referring to nem as 'they' for a while. Michael's happy with it, and tolerates being called 'he' and 'Mr. Corner' at school.

At eleven, Michael's excited for nir last year of primary school.

The August before ne turns twelve, Michael gets a letter.

* * *

 **Since Michael's birthday is so late in September, I figure ne wouldn't get the letter until the September _after_ ne turns eleven. Anyway, enjoy.**


	3. Hogwarts

**I don't know how I'm writing this so fast**

 **the great thing about writing these three is that when i say 'he' or 'ne' or whatever there's no confusion because they're all different genders**

 **in a way**

 **michael is more a lack of gender**

 **or somewhere in between genders**

 **anyway enjoy**

* * *

Hogwarts is amazing.

Michael is captivated by the old school the minute ne sets eyes on it, and the other students look just as excited. They're swept up as a crowd into the castle, through the doors and into the Hall-

-And the Hat goes on Michael's head and says, _My, new to all this, are we? No matter, I can see you're meant for-_

"RAVENCLAW!"

Michael ends up at the table full of students in blue ties and blue-trimmed robes, still running high on adrenaline. Magic school still sounds like some kind of miracle, not something that would happen to nem.

It feels right, somehow, having some kind of rare power. Michael knows it's not that rare, but there aren't that many people at the table with nem.

There's a minute of hushed silence when Harry Potter's name is called, quickly replaced by whispers, and Michael feels a jolt of surprise when a brown kid shoves through the crowd and sits on the stool. It shouldn't be as surprising as it is that Harry Potter isn't white, but Michael's still working on not assuming that kind of thing.

The Hat calls out _RAVENCLAW,_ and the table practically explodes cheering.

Michael ends up across the table from him, first years grouped together. Ne can see the pale scar forking across Harry's forehead under dark, haphazard bangs, and green eyes surveying the rest of the table like Harry's assessing the rest of the House.

Michael sat in a compartment with a bunch of other first-years on the way there, and they had talked excitedly for half an hour about Harry Potter, wondering if he was really going to be there. Michael thinks that Harry does look like someone who could have defeated a Dark Lord.

It's something in the eyes.

Michael, on the way up to the dorms, wonders if Hogwarts splits them between boys and girls and spends the rest of the walk worrying about it so much ne doesn't even notice the brief incident with the door knocker.

But the prefects barely react, beyond the girl giving the boy an odd look, and the boy reassures nem that they'll be able to set up another dorm since Michael doesn't belong with the boys.

Michael had not considered how isolated it would make nem.

The boys give nem sideways looks, the occasional jostle in the hallways. The older students don't pay any attention to the first years, and the prefects only get involved if there's real trouble. Most of the other Ravenclaws seem more absorbed in personal projects, and very few dedicate time to actual schoolwork - Michael rarely sees anyone looking at their assigned textbooks unless they're frantically doing homework at breakfast the morning before it's due.

The jostling graduates to occasional jeering comments, but Michael puts up with it. Ne's here to learn magic. Ne's not going to let a bunch of idiot boys ruin that for nem.

And then, against all odds, Michael realizes that ne's somehow befriended Harry Potter.

It had started out small - ne'd noticed that Harry never did homework, period, and half the time seemed surprised when the professors collected it - like he hadn't even realized it had been assigned. Michael had tried to be nice and remind him.

Harry had looked at nem the first time like he'd only realized Michael was there when ne had stuck the scrap of parchment under his nose. "Oh. Right. Thanks, I guess."

It had snowballed from there.

Somehow.

The bullying all but vanishes. The occasional glance is now more confused or jealous than mocking, since Michael is now one of about two people Harry regularly talks to. The other being Hermione Granger, a Muggleborn who had hair like nir mum's and seemed aggressively determined to be Michael's friend.

Michael had thought ne was a Muggleborn as well, except ne'd seen a book called _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ in the bookstore and remembered nir dad telling nem those stories as a kid.

Hermione tried too hard, though, and Michael tried to back away to compensate, but eventually they fell into stride around Harry.

He was the core of their group, unquestionably.

Couple with his mysterious reputation, Michael had been expecting a lot of things. Sure, Harry was kind of weird sometimes, with a weight on him that didn't seem like it should be there but seemed like it had for a while. But he was also kind of a dork, and told bad jokes a lot.

And he held himself weirdly, but Michael couldn't really put nir finger on why it was weird.

First year was boring, but Michael had made friends and learned _magic._ Which made it that much worse when Harry never wrote back that summer.

Nir mum tried to reassure nem, but the only thing that really helped was the actual explanation that it had not, actually, been Harry's fault. Michael didn't think ne'd ever been so relieved in nir life.

Hermione is less happy to see Harry again. Michael doesn't blame her (and Harry says he doesn't either) but ne still winces when she slaps him.

This school year is less exciting, too, since Michael wasn't the kind of person who liked cats being frozen stiff and bloody writing on walls.

Michael catches a glimpse of Harry's expression, when he sees the wall, before Harry smooths it into an appropriately shocked and horrified one.

For a moment, Michael sees the kid who killed a Dark Lord.

People keep getting Petrified. Michael doesn't know what's happening, and ne doesn't think even Dumbledore does, much less anyone else.

Ne doesn't dare write home and tell nir mum about any of this. It's tempting, though, because she's always been the one who helped nem fix the problem when things at school were going wrong.

Ne thinks this is a little outside her area of expertise.

Hermione gets Petrified.

Michael's a little scared of Harry afterwards.

Ne knows Harry doesn't set foot in the dorm all night. Ne doesn't ask where he went.

Harry disappears again, right before there's a school-wide call for everyone to get back to their dorms, _now._

Harry is not in the dorm.

He comes back covered in dirt and blood and something else and Michael's so relieved ne hugs him again, uncaring of the grime.

If anyone else had told nem that story, Michael would have said it was impossible. But the way Harry tells a story, he could make anyone believe anything.

Hermione, when she is un-Petrified, panics over all the homework she's missed, and Michael can't help but laugh.

The summer after that is easier, Michael telling nir mum not-quite-lies so she doesn't worry, hopes she just thinks nir unwillingness to elaborate is just because Michael's inching closer to fourteen. That summer they take a trip to the mainland, spend time in Europe because nir mum's just been promoted and they have extra money and haven't gone on a vacation in years.

That August, the television plays a piece on Sirius Black, and dangerous (and escaped) murderer. The wizarding world is talking about him, too. Michael tries to reassure her, but ne can't really do that without saying _I've been through worse._

A giant snake was worse than a mass-murderer, though, especially since Michael is sure Black can't even get into the castle anyway.

Of course, it only takes until October for Michael to be proved wrong.

Lying in conjured sleeping bags in the dark hall, Michael wonders about Harry. The adults think they're being subtle, but ne can tell that their worry about Black has some connection to nir friend.

Nir thoughts drift to Harry. Harry, who looks much better than he usually does and has a new guardian. Michael feels guilt curl in nir chest. Sure, Harry had been a little short and a little skinny - but Michael hadn't thought it was anything _bad._ Not like that. But Harry compared to how he'd looked in past years - well, it made Michael metaphorically shift awkwardly when ne realized what ne hadn't noticed.

Harry is forbidden from going to Hogsmeade, despite his signed form. He sneaks into the village anyway.

The three of them discover why everyone's worried about Harry.

Michael blurts out the next day _don't go after Black._ Harry looks bemused, like the idea hadn't even occurred to him.

Like he wasn't at all bothered by what Black had done.

Hermione and Harry argue, something about Hermione's schedule, and Michael spends part of the year stuck between the two of them without actually talking to both of them at the same time.

They end up dragged into the Shrieking Shack with Ron Weasley, Sirius Black is there, professor Lupin is a werewolf and possibly helping Black, and petty arguments are forgotten.

And then Harry snaps his fingers and makes their wands vanish.

Michael's shocked, but in the chaos of everything else that happens ne almost forgets about it. But Harry drawing a silver sword from nowhere and using it expertly on a forcibly transformed professor Lupin is harder to forget.

And then Dementors swoop down on them.

Harry and Hermione are not in the hospital wing when Michael wakes up, with a phantom pain in nir back from that time ne fell of nir dad's ladder - the one that he used to paint really big canvases. It takes three house for them to get back and ten minutes for Hermione to explain, and three days to properly corner Harry and get an explanation.

" _Angels_?"

Michael believes it easier than the other two.

Partly because it's Harry - _Gabriel,_ and his hints of otherworldliness, a darkness lingering and the way he holds himself like there's something on his back he needs to compensate for - and partly because angels feel _right,_ like magic does.

Michael doesn't tell nir mum about any of that, either, though ne does tell her that Sirius Black is innocent.

Ne doesn't think she's religious - they've never been to church or done anything else - so angels being real would have been an odd topic.

Michael is invited to go to the Quidditch World Cup by Ron (there are extra tickets and Harry - Gabriel - has turned him down). Michael accepts.

Ne and Hermione flee with the rest of the Weasleys when the Death Eaters show up.

Michael wonders what might have happened if Gabriel had been there, archangel versus Death Eaters. Ne decides ne probably doesn't want to know.

Gabriel looks angry, on the train, before the emotion is carefully smoothed off his face. It strikes Michael, in that instant, just how much Gabriel has been lying to them for the last three years - how much else does he hide from them, on a daily basis?

Gabriel is more honest with them now, of course - they know that he's not really Harry, now, and when his name comes out of the Goblet of the Fire Michael's first thought is _oh, no._

Nir second is _None of the rest of them stand a chance._

Gabriel's face is carefully blank, and Michael can tell he's angry. The Ravenclaws are in a flurry of gossip, thrilled that _they_ have a champion, but the rest of the Houses are giving the blue students dirty looks, as if they'd rigged it.

Michael manages to catch Gabriel that morning. Hermione is waiting by the Entrance Hall, and they spend the morning on the grounds. Just talking.

Gabriel is very, very old. Michael thinks that ne sort of knew that already, but ne couldn't say how.

The first task, Gabriel wins the egg by - apparently - asking the dragon nicely for it. Michael feels vaguely like ne should be surprised by this, but it's _Gabriel._ The most shocking thing about the situation is that Parseltongue works on dragons.

Ne also learns that Gabriel has a talent for avoiding people and answering questions without actually telling anyone anything. This comes in handy when Rita Skeeter comes prowling around, but when she's involved Gabriel's talents mostly involve not being there.

The second task, Michael lets nemself be put to sleep reluctantly. Ne gets that it's necessary for the task, but ne stiffens when Dumbledore's wand is pointed at nem and the next thing ne knows ne's almost choking on a mouthful of lake water and soaking wet.

Gabriel looks worried. That, and sort of like he wants to murder Dumbledore for putting Michael and Hermione down there. Michael doesn't think Gabriel cares that he was only supposed to rescue one person.

After the second task, the Yule Ball is just around the corner. Michael doesn't go with anyone - there's no one ne particularly wants to ask out. Hermione says she'd go with nem, if she didn't have a partner already.

Hermione's in the line of champions, hair flat and twice as long as usual, beaming, arm linked with Viktor Krum's. Gabriel and Luna both look impeccable, and Michael's a little jealous of how good they look together.

Michael's not the only one who came alone, so ne's not left stranded on the dance floor - half the students can't dance, even with the lessons the heads of House (mostly professor McGonagall) provided, but it's fun anyway. Michael ends up with a Gryffindor named Parvati Patil at some point, and she's wearing a sari in bright pink and gold accents that Michael thinks suits her.

Parvati keeps stepping on nir feet and hissing apologies, but Michael doesn't mind and eventually Parvati melts back into the crowd with an identical girl in an orange sari, and Michael decides to take a break from dancing.

Gabriel stays with Luna the whole night, and he's flighty and barely around for the rest of break. After school resumes it's like someone has flipped a switch, and Gabriel doesn't act like he even remembers avoiding Michael.

Hermione asks nem if ne noticed. Michael tells her ne figures it's just angel stuff, and neither of them bring it up.

The third task rolls around, the champions disappear into the maze, and both Fleur and Krum are taken out early but Cedric comes back with the cup alone, pale-faced and staggering. He's immediately escorted to the Hospital Wing, leaving a flurry of rumors in his wake.

Michael goes after him. Ne doesn't even care if Hermione's following, because _Gabriel's not there._

Gabriel turns up just soon enough to disprove a vague account of his own murder. Dumbledore's already guessed that he's not who he seems. The rest of the gathered teachers and relatives are suitably skeptical, wary, or furious.

Shadowy wings snap out across the walls, the torches gutter in their brackets, and the thought drifts across Michael's mind that Gabriel's _real_ wings are much more impressive.

Wait, what?

Michael doesn't mention that to Gabriel.

Summer passes slowly, too slowly, and full of awkward anticipation. Michael keeps struggling with whether to tell nir mother about Voldemort or not, and then halfway through August there's an invitation to join the rest of the Order, the Weasleys, and Hermione at their Headquarters.

Ne accepts. Ne can tell nir mum isn't happy about it, but she lets nem go. The news about Gabriel has spread, and the Order members are either jumpy or pretending they don't care. The younger Weasleys are wondering what this means for the Death Eaters.

School is different, too, a horrible Defense teacher (Michael's pretty sure it's not really Gabriel in those classes, just something that looks like him), the threat of Voldemort looming over them for those who believe the story.

Hermione gets the idea for a Defense club, to learn what Umbridge won't teach them. Gabriel reluctantly lets himself be voted leader. Michael does a lot of the actual leading, along with Hermione, but none of them are very good at it and it turns into more of a big collaboration of students all helping each other.

Umbridge is nearly killed. Gabriel tells them about tricksters. Michael catches more than a little mischief in Gabriel's eyes.

It's a trickster for sure, though, and it doesn't leave the school until the Ministry brings in Aurors and someone from the Department of Mysteries. Snape, when he resumes teaching, is stiff and yet fairer with points. Michael thinks it's a miracle and maybe they should bring the trickster back to do something about Ackerly.

Ne doesn't voice that idea, of course.

Arthur Weasley is nearly killed before winter break, and Gabriel vanishes and does something to help. Michael goes with the Weasleys to the address he gave Dumbledore and since when does Gabriel have _kids_?

'Paternal' wasn't a word ne would have used to describe Gabriel, and yet it's the only one ne can find that fits with the way Gabriel acts around the three of them. None of them look older than ten, but Michael's sure that (like Gabriel) they're a lot older than they appear.

Ne likes them, personally. They're a lot like Gabriel, but in a more childlike way which makes it endearing, and different enough to be just as interesting.

Gabriel tells them about Loki, over Christmas. Michael doesn't understand how he can be more than one thing at the same time, angel _and_ god. The thought refuses to make sense to nem.

It's a sad story, but Gabriel pretends like it's a boring one that could happen to anyone. He's not telling them the truth, or at least he's hiding most of the story and telling them only what he feels like sharing.

Michael doesn't call him out on it.

There's some sort of chaos at the end of the year, which turns into _real_ chaos as Gabriel transports them into the Department of Mysteries and promptly gets stuck. The Order appears first, then Gabriel's previously unknown daughter, then the Death Eaters.

Then the fight really starts.

Michael's halfway through cursing one of them when static screeches through nir head, making nem stagger. Hermione shouts something, but the noise in nir head is louder. Michael can't understand it, it's not English and it's too loud for nem to handle-

Michael's hands are pressed into nir head, and Hermione is standing over nem, and Michael can't do anything but _endure_ whatever message is carving itself into nir brain.

The screeching, gravelly words end, but there are more (thankfully quieter ones) to replace them. Michael lets nemself be hoisted up, only stumbling a little. Ne doesn't understand what any of it means any more than ne did before, doesn't even know who's talking.

Gabriel looks at nem like he's afraid, and Michael wants to ask him what's happening but ne can barely concentrate on talking with all this _noise_ (but compared to now everything had always been quiet, too quiet, but this feels like too much to deal with all at once).

Gabriel vanishes.

The Order trickles back to Grimmauld Place, and Michael learns that Death Eaters were not just at the Ministry.

Seven Muggleborn houses had been attacked that night. Michael's mother is missing, presumed dead.

Michael locks nemself in the room ne'd used for half the summer and cries. This time, no one tries to come in to comfort nem.

Gabriel arrives in the early morning. Michael's already awake, even though it's barely six. Gabriel can probably tell ne's been crying, but doesn't comment on it further when Michael tells nem what happened.

"So you know what's going on?"

"Yes."

"And you can fix it?"

"...Sort of."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's...difficult to explain."

Michael trusts Gabriel, really, but when nir friend is being so cryptic and there are still mysterious voices in nir head, it's a little hard to just take everything at face value.

The tree looms over both of them, the hill only adding to its height. Michael doesn't see what touching a tree will do, but maybe it has some sort of curative magic, like that spring from Tuck Everlasting, except different-

Tuck Everlasting makes nem think of nir mum. Michael takes a deep breath and squeezes nir eyes shut, and walks up towards the tree.

For a split second after ne touches it, nothing happens.

Then ne is-

* * *

 **ehehehehehe**


	4. Michael

**Oh, I'm really glad it ended it there.**

* * *

Pure power burns into Michael and ne's frozen to the spot, memories pouring in with it and it's just barely shy of too much to handle-

Heaven, the _Fall,_ the _Cage,_ thousands of billions of years of memories, everything ne'd done between then and now and Michael Corner was buried in the flood of them, nir Parent and Lucifer and Raphael and-

 _Gabriel._

Michael whirls around, unsteady, wings reflexively snapping out to steady nem. _Gabriel._ Alive, unharmed, _he's been here for years,_ Michael doesn't even question it because _Gabriel is alive._

And glaring, and looking tense enough to take off at any second.

"Michael."

He's not happy.

...Michael doesn't blame him.

There's too much in Michael's mind, Grace roiling in the sudden displacement to nir body - _Michael's_ body, not a vessel of any kind, certainly not anything like Dean Winchester. Ne can't concentrate enough to be anything but puzzled at Gabriel's refusal to believe nem, and when Michael tries to convince him, stepping forward earnestly, and freezes when Gabriel shoots back a step.

Gabriel is desperately trying to pretend he's not fucking terrified, terrified of _Michael,_ and memories squeeze forward through the absolute storm in Michael's head, and nir spirits sink as ne remembers the last time ne and Gabriel properly met.

 _This isn't right!_

 _Then_ leave!

Ne hadn't meant it like that. Ne'd _never_ meant for Gabriel to take it like that. But intentions didn't do anything, and it was far too late to fix that mistake now.

Michael goes on autopilot for the rest of the discussion, nir personality bleeding out and a little bit of Michael Corner making it to the surface.

And then ne says the worst thing.

"Yeah, you made that pretty clear when you left."

Michael wants to take back the words as soon as they leave nir mouth, but time travel doesn't work that way and ne doubts ne could manage it like this, right now. Gabriel freezes on the spot, and Michael is torn between the tiny part of nem that is glad Gabriel's still there and the rest of nem that is cringing at what ne knows is about to follow.

Michael can't seem to stop verbally misstepping, wings snapping out in reflex and glaring back at Gabriel while Gabriel spits out the same words Lucifer had hurled at nem and ne can't help but feel a cold creeping up on nem.

Gabriel says they were barely a family, and a part of Michael (the part where the sinking feeling ne's getting lives) says he's right.

Michael tries to apologize.

Gabriel looks profoundly shocked, and then brushes it off, tries to pull his usual demeanor over the furious, emotional truth he'd shown Michael.

They part with an unsure, tenuous truce, leaving Michael to think.

Gabriel's _children._ It had been an offhand remark, Michael had meant it, but it was so _strange_ to think of. Children. Michael knows they're not Nephilim, even without asking, because Gabriel of all angels wouldn't dare.

 _That_ train of thought leads nem down towards memory lane. Michael sits down at the base of the tree, closes nir eyes, and thinks.

Ne has thousands of millions of years of memories to think over, and it's not going to go quickly.

Memories are already slipping into place, though, and it's like someone has simply shoved 'Michael Corner' into a much, much larger file called 'Michael'. The Michael ne'd been moments ago, that's most recent, but those memories are still teetering on the brink of being overwhelmed simply by how much _else_ there is in nir head now.

Michael isn't even going to _try_ to bring the other human memories to the surfaces, repetitive reincarnations in all sort of different places and situations that Michael's too disoriented still to sort through. Ne is glad, though, of the buffer that they provide between now and nir memories of the Cage.

Michael still can't help but shiver.

Nir Grace is not nearly as worn as it had been last time Michael had possessed it. Ne can't tell whether They intervened, or if it's because nir Grace has been sitting here for God only knew how long.

There are still sore spots, areas that have been hurt too deeply for them not to ache. Michael's wings are ragged, and Michael can't seem to find a position to keep them in that's completely comfortable.

Ne could tell Gabriel this, perhaps. Explain what happened to nem after Stull Cemetery. But it would feel like a cheap trick to gain sympathy, and Gabriel would probably see it as one.

Michael wouldn't entirely disagree with him.

The sky is lightening when Michael finally shakes nemself out of nir thoughts. It had already been light when ne and Gabriel had gotten there - ne's spent far too much time here, time wasted. Michael manages to pull Voldemort to the forefront of nir mind, which has been primarily concerned with Lucifer up until now-

No, not now. Up until They offered nem the other option.

It's going to be odd dealing with the time differences, the gap between Michael, then and now.

Michael returns to Grimmauld Place.

The Order can wait, but the Weasleys have become nir friends. Ne tells them right away.

Ginny's immediate reaction is "Oh, _Merlin,_ I _dated_ you."

Michael manages a grin and reassures her that it's not blasphemy or anything like that.

Gabriel barely makes an appearance, only briefly remaining within five feet of Michael to tell the Order. Michael tries to pull him aside, get in an actual conversation before term begins, but Gabriel refuses to tell nem anything useful and disappears as soon as possible.

The only information Michael gets is that the Leviathan have at one point been roaming freely before being locked away again, and Raphael is dead.

Raphael is dead.

Michael quietly leaves and wanders between universes for a while. Nir wings are sore but they hold nem, and Michael has to force nemself to go back to that Earth when ne realize ne's spent weeks (at least) away from them.

Gabriel reluctantly visits nem again, telling nem they've figured out how to open Heaven. Michael bites back the question of how Heaven was closed in the first place and agrees to go with nem.

So many angels in one place, working together. Michael enjoys it, even though it hardly lasts.

There are questions buzzing through the Host, questions about nem, and Michael leaves quickly and quietly.

Term begins again. Ne meets Gabriel on the train and _how has he managed to injure himself that badly in two weeks._

Gabriel actually glares at nem after Michael erases the taint from the wound, and spends an hour pretending Michael doesn't exist. Michael wishes ne could say that ne were relieved when Hermione calls them out on it. Ignoring each other is actually preferable, when ne considers what could happen if they don't.

The entire year is like that, flashes of classes passing by Michael. Existing outside of the human conception of time is difficult, when nir daily life is constrained by it.

Michael doesn't sleep, anymore. Nighttime becomes 'reflect on your past' time. Michael doesn't do it on purpose. It's just that the darkness and (for the most part) quiet gives nem too much time to nemself.

Ne wonders if Gabriel's ever had this problem.

The closest they get to actual reconciliation is when demons start showing up, forcing them to cooperate or at the very least tell the other what's going on. First it's one, then Michael hears that someone managed to set hellhounds on Hermione and Fleur, and _Gabriel still is barely talking to nem._

Then there are Death Eaters in Hogwarts and Gabriel is nowhere to be found and there are four demons that Michael hasn't heard about and dozens more in Hogwarts and what the hell has Gabriel been keeping from nem other than a damn plan to assassinate Albus Dumbledore?

Dumbledore dies.

Gabriel brushes off blame with a look at anything but Michael and hunched shoulders that say _I fucking dare you to try and talk to me right now._

Michael's pretty sure no one else has noticed that this is odd behavior for Gabriel.

Some of nir nighttime pondering sessions have turned towards Gabriel, wondering what he had been doing for all those years, but right now Michael's just really frustrated with him.

This all comes to a head later, of course.

Knights, of course, why should anything be easy? Voldemort is dead but there are two Knights loose and somehow, impossibly, on _this_ Earth. Michael doesn't even realize that ne defaults to 'commander', tracking down Aziraphale and retrieving Verchiel from Heaven to help, finding Balthazar and Castiel and Muriel and informing them of the situation.

And then Gabriel shows up, and Balthazar _has_ to make an offhand comment about Them not being around to help.

Michael doesn't make the connection at first, and then ne's angry, because this? Now? Gabriel has had plenty of time to bring up these things, Michael had kept their Parent's disappearance secret for a good reason, but Gabriel is determined to pick a fight-

If they were human they would have screamed themselves hoarse at each other, managing to end up shouting in Enochian that rattles the house and makes the lights flicker wildly.

" _We were soldiers!_ "

" _I was your sibling!_ "

Gabriel is just as good at hitting Michael where it hurts as Lucifer was.

Michael shouts at him to leave before ne can even think of what ne's saying, too caught up in fury and the knowledge that if Gabriel doesn't leave _now_ they're both going to do something that they regret. Gabriel shouts back and Michael strikes out blindly.

The strike of power catches a vase behind the empty space where Gabriel stood and Michael swears viciously, trying to vent nir anger.

 _Shite._ Ne's just basically attacked Gabriel. And told him to leave. Again. Michael is abruptly terrified that it's a repeat of past events, that it's going to be another thousand-something years before ne sees Gabriel again.

But ne doesn't dare pursue Gabriel, not when pursuit might be taken as nem tracking him down to finish whatever Gabriel thinks ne tried to start.

Hermione stomps into the room and demands to know what happens. Michael tries not to look her in the eyes as ne explains.

Somehow, it all ends up coming out - first the reason for the argument, which leads to a weird sort of philosophical thing, and then Michael's pouring out nir heart to a girl ne's known for five years at most and Hermione just sits there.

And listens.

Michael's not sure if it's shock or a willingness to help that keeps her there.

Michael knows she's judging nem. There is outright shock, not the numbing kind but the emotion, on her face and something like horror in her mind. The end of the world isn't pretty, it was never meant to be, and Michael engineered it all for an absent Parent who is still somehow managing to affect nem without even being there.

"You need to apologize," Hermione says. "Look, Michael, that's a lot of crap. And - I don't even know what I think of half of it, but you need to tell this to Gabriel. For once in your life, just _listen_ to me when I give you advice."

Michael listens.

Gabriel listens, too, going from fear to reluctance to a sort of embarrassed attention where he avoids looking at Michael like that will make it easier to pretend that he can't tell how much Michael means every word ne's saying.

Their truce is not nearly so half-cocked and tenuous, after that.

There is still the issue of the Knights looming over them.

Gabriel says he has a plan, and Michael lets nemself believe him, too caught up in the fact that Gabriel is willingly talking to nem now. Gabriel doesn't spend all his time around Michael, but Michael doesn't expect him to.

They make plans to meet afterwards, and they separate, Michael trying to push down nir worry, because worry will only get nem killed in a fight with Paimon.

Paimon is one of the older demons, one of the first to be made into a Knight, but he's still lesser than Michael. Michael doesn't pretend that ne doesn't remember what Paimon used to be, _who_ he used to be. Even if Paimon was anything like that anymore, ne's got blood on nir hands already. Paimon's won't make nem any guiltier than ne already is.

The Knight gets in a couple lucky shots, but so does Michael, and in the end that makes all the difference. Michael drags nemself to their meeting spot, waits for Gabriel.

Except Gabriel doesn't show, and the worry that Michael has been hiding just keep building.

Michael doesn't wait more than twenty minutes, and maybe not even that, time is too unimportant to keep track of especially when another minute might be another minute Gabriel suffers.

Michael crashes into the already-destroyed warehouse, flight unsteady. Belial is sprawled on the ground, blood sluggishly trickling from a stab wound. Between broken beams, what seems like eight tons of dust, and the fact that the storm above nem blots out any light, Michael sees Gabriel.

 _Oh, God,_ it's the first time ne's prayed in so, so long, _don't let him be dead, please, I just got him back._

Gabriel is not dead, but it's a close thing.

* * *

 **Aaaaaaaaaaaah get ready for a shit ton of Michael's POV on things I really should have done this earlier to work out nir character better**


	5. Hurt

**I just keep coming and coming with these cliffhangers, huh?**

* * *

"Oh no, no, _fuck - Gabriel!_ "

Michael's alarm spikes when Gabriel barely responds to the shake. His eyes don't open, and oh God, the reason Michael noticed him is because the entire area around him is lit up with the Grace bleeding from a chest wound that's severe enough to have painted the ground and what looks like both of Gabriel's arms red - did he try to stop it from bleeding, some futile attempt to heal himself in the middle of a fight, Michael's mind is too full of panic to even think about trying to figure out what must have happened.

Ne can always ask Gabriel.

Michael tells nemself that.

Michael winces when ne shoves nir arms under Gabriel, lifting _up_ and Gabriel groans but Michael's already flying.

Ne lands unsteadily in the Hogwarts hospital wing, staggering and listing to one side because of nir bad leg. Michael's already shouting for Aziraphale, and Gabriel makes a high-pitched whine that Michael never wants to hear from any of nir siblings again.

Aziraphale's eyes go wide, and he yanks Gabriel's jacket off. Michael helps him magic the shirt off, put him on a bed, and the wound only looks worse in the stark light of _Gabriel_ bleeding out of it. There's already blood everywhere, Michael can feel it drying in nir shirt, but that's not what ne's worried about.

Aziraphale barely puts his hands on the wound, trying to see how far it goes, but Gabriel _screams._

Michael can feel the backlash of Grace, managing to stand nir ground just because of how weak it is. Aziraphale still goes flying backwards. Michael bends over Gabriel, cupping his face, trying to get through to him but there's no response beyond groans that hid strained Enochian pleas that Michael forces nemself not to listen to. Aziraphale picks himself out of the wreckage of the cabinet with shaky movements, brushing off glass shards and fixing his vessel.

Aziraphale can't do it, so healing falls to Michael. Ne dearly wishes Raphael was here, this has never been Michael's job, Michael just destroyed and then Raphael patched up nir siblings and everyone else was responsible for cleanup.

 _Please, please, let me do this right._ Michael's desperate enough to pray again. _If you're somewhere you can help me, Raphael,_ please.

Aziraphale can help hold Gabriel down, Gabriel expended himself so much with that wild flare of uncontrolled Grace that it's easy (too easy) to hold him down. Michael braces nemself, and pushes _in_ to the wound.

The reaction is immediate. Gabriel's back arches (too grounded in the vessel, makes it that much harder-) and his true voice tears the hospital wing apart, windows shattering but Michael refuses to let nemself lose nir concentration because one misstep-

Gabriel begs nem in hoarse, mindless Enochian to _stop, please_ and it takes all Michael has not to put nir hands over nir ears.

It takes far too long to finish, for Michael to press together and reattach the parts of Gabriel that have been rent apart, to patch what ne can't fix and pull back, leaving the wound still far too raw and open for nem to stomach, but at this point Michael's too drained to do much else.

Gabriel's lying on the bed, barely moving except for the hitch of his chest and the random spasms of his wings in response to whatever pain he's still feeling. There's sweat beading his skin and Michael can feel the stickiness of it when ne lays a hand on Gabriel's forehead.

 _Rest._ It's the kindest thing ne can do for Gabriel right now - if he's unconscious, he won't be in pain. Any angel injured this badly before would have been given over to the other angels - the ones who took care of those too badly injured to heal. Michael shakes the thought away. Ne never would have let that happen to Gabriel.

But ne doesn't leave, either, simply sitting and waiting. It's a little silly to think that anything else could happen to Gabriel here, but Michael would rather be overcautious than not cautious enough.

Aziraphale had helped to fix nir leg, and then repaired the windows as if trying to find something to do that did not involve reminding himself of Gabriel's condition. He'd ducked out around sunset, probably to investigate Hogwarts's library.

Michael had tried to read something, to give nemself something to do, but it was too dark now to read and ne didn't have the power to relight the torches or the knowledge to do it manually. Ne'd settled for keeping eyes on Gabriel - his chest was rising and falling, which meant Gabriel still had the energy to keep a dead body acting like it was alive. That was good.

This was good. They would both make it out of this.

Gabriel shifts around midnight, attracting Michael's attention immediately. All he does is turn his head, but his wings curl up around him instead of slumping uselessly on the floor.

Michael is so intent on divining if he's about to wake that ne doesn't notice the presence behind nem.

"He'll be alright."

Michael shoots to nir feet and turns - or meant to, and would have if nir leg had not twisted in exactly the wrong direction. Michael makes to grab the chair to stop nemself from falling as hands - _physical_ hands - catch nem.

"Sit down," their Parent says softly. "I shouldn't have startled you."

Michael only stares, allowing Them to push nem gently back into the chair and sit in the one next to nem. They cast a soft look at Gabriel, linking their hands in a contemplative manner. For some unfathomable reason, They have chosen to physically manifest Themself looking like Chuck Shurley.

"Can't you fix him?" _That's_ the first thing ne says to Them. Michael inwardly curses nir human impulse, but holds nir metaphorical breath for the answer.

"You've done well," They say. "It will heal fine without my interference."

Michael doesn't say that it will heal _faster_ and cause Gabriel less pain if They do interfere. Ne doesn't know what to say - what are They even doing here?

"You planned this," is what ends up coming out of nir mouth.

There's not a lot of light, but Michael can make out Their smile. "And it worked out," They say. "I'm glad you two reconciled."

"Is that why You put me here? Did You - put Gabriel in that vessel?" A part of Michael is wondering what the Hell ne's doing asking so many questions of Them, but the human part of Michael is burning with curiosity.

"Oh," They muse, "I arranged things, certainly. _That_ vessel - well, something had to be done, I thought why not him?" Their eyes fix on Michael, an intensity that by far outweighs Dumbledore's x-ray gaze. "Haven't you guessed why I made you human, Michael?"

Michael thinks. Ne's thought about it before, of course.

"To learn what I did wrong."

Michael knows the moment ne says it that it's not the right answer. They don't sigh, not exactly, but Michael still slumps in nir chair before remembering exactly who ne's sitting in front of and making an effort to straighten.

"Don't blame yourself for all of that," They say. "I expected too much of you - expected that you would do as I had intended without actually remaining there to tell you what I wanted you to do."

"Does-"

"I am not coming back, Michael."

Michael slumps, again.

"Why not?" Nir voice sounds very small, even to nem.

This time, They do sigh, almost inaudibly. "If I could change that without changing a single other thing that happened," They began, "and don't interrupt, Michael, I may be omnipotent but I do obey the rules of My own universe, and time travel does not work that way. _If..._ if I could change it, I would not leave without notice."

So it is not leaving that They regret. Michael swallows down nir disappointment.

"Why did You leave?"

"For the same reason I put you here."

Michael can't fathom how those things would be related. Being human and running Heaven are two entirely different things, but They are looking at nem expectantly and Michael scrambles to find an answer.

"Was..." ne begins slowly. "Is this about...You not being there to tell us what to do?" But that would mean- "That - You wanted me to-"

"Free will," They muse aloud. "A tricky subject, isn't it? And not one any of you like to broach." They pin Michael with a knowing look.

"We were created to serve You," Michael says weakly.

They sigh again, more going through the motions of it than actually meaning it. "After the Leviathan, I wanted Creations that would not be nearly so wild. I overdid it a bit, I admit. Humanity - there's a good balance there, between wildness and willingness to listen. With you..." Now They look almost regretful, and Michael instinctively wants to do what ne can to solve the problem that is causing that- "...Lucifer, really, was My mistake."

"Mistake?" Michael's shocked enough that ne can only parrot the word.

"Yes," They say, "mistake. Lucifer refused to listen, and I grew angry enough that I didn't look to see the consequences of My actions. Do you think, if I had not punished him so soundly, that your siblings might be more open to the idea of making their own decisions?"

The honest answer is yes, but that is not what Michael is thinking about.

Eyes softening, They lean forward. "I should not have made you do it," They say quietly. "Making you my instrument in casting Lucifer down wasn't kind to you."

 _It had to be done,_ Michael almost says, running on automatic. What ne does say is, "I wish You hadn't."

"Yes," They say, "So do I."

Michael is quiet for a long time. They do not push nem to speak, leaving the two of them in an almost companionable silence.

"Does Gabriel know?" Michael asks, after what seems but probably is not a long while.

"Yes," They tell nem. "I've spoken to him already."

Michael might have been jealous, once upon a time, that They had spoken to Gabriel and not nem first. Now, ne's just glad that ne doesn't have to tell Gabriel that ne heard from their Parent and he didn't. Ne glances at Gabriel, silent but no longer silent enough to be unsettling.

"He misses you," Michael says, and then, "we all do."

"Oh, Michael," They say, "I never left you completely."

There's the sensation of a brush of lips against nir forehead, and then Michael is alone again.

Ne takes several steadying breaths. The pain in nir leg is down to nearly nothing, other than a slight, dull twinge.

Michael knows that this is probably the last ne will see of Them for a long, long time. Ne takes the words to heart.

There is much of Heaven to fix, ne knows, and plenty who will benefit from hearing reassurance from Them.

* * *

 **Yay? Slight hint of stuff that comes after.**


End file.
